The Smash Diaries is a series discussing the upcoming title Super Smash Bros for Nintendo Switch by Nathaniel and maybe others down the road.
Welcome to a brand new series on the Beautiful Boy Blog! Thanks for sticking around during our short break. More content is coming soon. I wanted to start off on the right foot with a brand new ongoing series discussing the recently announced Super Smash Bros title coming to Nintendo Switch. The game is coming in 2018 and with it, a ton of speculations as to what the game will hold. My plan is to write new entries for this series during the lead up to the launch of the title and with it I've put together a list of the fighters for the game and the chances they have of returning.
Let's take a look!
Confirmed:
Mario
Link
Inklings
This is a pretty straight forward category. If the character has been confirmed to be in Smash 5 (I'll be calling it that until an official title is revealed.), it's on this list. So far we have three fighters that are coming to the game. The Inklings were up front and center in the reveal trailer. Mario and Link were shown up close as well. Other characters were shown off I'm the background, but since we can not determine who every fighter is, we won't be moving them to this list until we can.
Likely Returning (80%+):
Luigi
Peach
Bowser
Rosalina
Bowser Jr.
Yoshi
Wario
Donkey Kong
Diddy Kong
Zelda
Sheik
Ganondorf
Toon Link
Kirby
King Dedede
Meta Knight
Pikachu
Jigglypuff
Lucario
Greninja
Mewtwo
Samus
Zero Suit Samus
Pit
Palutena
Marth
Ike
Robin
Fox
Falco
Ness
Lucas
Capt Falcon
Mr. Game and Watch
Little Mac
Duck Hunt Dog
R.O.B.
Villager
Wii Fit Trainer
Shulk
Olimar
Mii Fighters
Sonic
Pacman
Megaman
Almost every character from the Wii U and 3DS version is on this list and for good reason. Characters rarely get cut in between smash titles and since the development team did not break apart after the release of the last game, it's safe to assume that most of the characters will be returning. I think the three third party characters who appeared in the base game of Smash 4 are guaranteed to return. The only two interesting characters here are Mewtwo and Lucas. Both of these characters were released as DLC and it's hard to say if DLC characters will be featured in the game or be cut for a separate purchase. I personally don't believe they would be, but it's something to take note of. As a side note, had the inklings not appeared in the first smash trailer, they would have probably been ranked here.
Lean Returning (60%+):
Charizard
Lucina
Dr. Mario
Dark Pit
Corrin
Bayonetta
Here is a list of fighters that I think have a decent shot of making it back into the game, but see reasons as to why they might be cut. Charizard might seem odd at first, but I'll explain why later.
Lucina, Dr. Mario and Dark Pit all fall into the “clones” category. While Smash has always had clone characters, these three were always seen as special cases. They're closer to palette swaps than original characters and I think there's a possibility they might get cut. Dark Pit is the least likely of the three as he could potentially receive an original moveset. Dr. Mario, who first appeared in Melee, comes in the middle. While he probably won't get a redesign, his veteran status will help in his staying power. Lucina is the most likely of the clones to get cut. Despite being well loved (she's one of my favorites), she has the distinct flaw of being a character from Fire Emblem. Fire Emblem racked up a total of six reps in the last game and it's possible that some of the characters from that series could be cut to make room for new characters.
Corrin, like Lucina, is a fire emblem rep and a DLC character meaning their chances of returning are lower. Bayonetta is here simply because she's technically a third party character despite Nintendo publishing Bayonetta 2. She's also a DLC fighter which lowers her chances a bit, but given that Bayonetta 3 is coming exclusively to the Switch, I think her chances are still pretty good.
Toss-Up (50/50):
Ryu
Cloud
Roy
Wolf
Ice Climbers
Pokemon Trainer
Three veterans from Smash 4 and three from Brawl, who's gonna make it in the next game? Ryu and Cloud are both here for similar reasons. They’re both third party DLC fighters which lowers them significantly. The other issue is that neither are very representative of Nintendo, rather they represent the companies behind them. Despite the success of the Street Fighter series and Final Fantasy VII, neither has been that well-known on Nintendo platforms over the years. Ryu also has to contend with Megaman who also represents Capcom. Ryu has a slightly higher chance of making it back in than Cloud. But if Cloud were to be confirmed for the game, I would be inclined to move every third party character to the “likely" category.
Roy fans might hate me, but I think he's got the weakest chances of returning of any Fire Emblem Character. He was a DLC character and he missed out on Brawl similar to Dr. Mario and Mewtwo. Roy is more popular in Smash than his own franchise which might hurt him in the long run. He was MIA in the recently released Fire Emblem Warriors and the last game he appeared in was a gameboy advance title excluding mobile games. He did receive a revamped moveset for Smash 4 so he has a slightly higher chance than the third party fighters, but I can't shake the feeling that Roy might not make it into the base game of Smash 5.
That covers every character from Super Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS, but what about the poor characters who were left behind in Brawl? Wolf was a last minute addition to Brawl and many theorized that he would return as a DLC fighter for Smash Wii U. It never happened. Wolf suffers from being very similar to Fox and Falco and not appearing in many games over the years. While Star Fox finally saw a new release in 2016, Wolf’s chances of returning still seem slim to me.
Cutting the Ice Climbers may have been the biggest sin Smash 4 commited and bringing them back would serve as the redemption the characters deserve. The biggest hurdle for the Ice Climbers comes to the reason they were cut, technical limitations. Supposedly, the 3DS could not handle 8 fighters on the screen at once while maintaining a consistent frame rate. The Wii U version also featured an 8 player smash mode which would put 16 characters on the board at once if the Ice Climbers were playable. The switch isn't much more powerful than the Wii U so it comes down to two things: 1) is 8 player smash returning and 2) if it does, can the switch handle 16 fighters at once? If the answer to the second one is yes, then I think the Ice climbers will return. If not, they may be left in the cold abyss of cut fighters.
Up last is the Pokemon Trainer. Like the Ice Climbers, Pokemon Trainer was likely cut due to the 3DS’s limitations. Transforming characters were axed in Smash 4 and the Pokemon Trainer saw it's most popular monster cut off and made a separate fighter. This is why Charizard is not in the “likely” category. Despite being one of the most popular Pokemon, the chance that it could return as a part of the Pokemon Trainer lowers its chances. Pokemon Trainer could come back and it's possible that they could see a new set of pokemon to play with. We've had three generations of pokemon come out since Brawl released so it's possible that any set of starters could be used. However, I still think it's unlikely that Pokemon Trainer will return unless it's with the original Kanto set up.
Unlikely Returning (30%-):
Snake
Pichu
Young Link
These characters are probably not going to be in the game. Snake was a huge deal in Brawl, but since the falling out between Konami and Metal Gear Creator Hideo Kojima, Snake has only appeared in karaoke and pachislot games. If Konami were to get a new representative it unlikely that Snake would make it in. Pichu was a clone of Pikachu and an objectively worse one. With the large amount of pokemon reps already in the game there's no reason for Pichu to return. Young Link was replaced by Toon Link in Brawl as a smaller version of regular link. I've seen fans come up with ideas for Young Link to use the masks from Majora’s Mask as his weapon of choice, but I don't see it happening. The Zelda series needs new reps and newer titles will have priority over old clones.
This list will be updated regularly as we receive news on Smash 5. I won't make entire update articles unless a massive amount of news drops, but I will include minor updates as I discuss returning characters, new characters, stages, game modes and more. But I don't want to start off with just a list of characters so here are so characters who I think could use some updates that have been in the game since the original on Nintendo 64.
Mario
Mario is the most iconic video game character ever. For smash, however, his moveset has largely remained unchanged over the years. It's time for Mario to receive some quality of life improvements. The obvious choice for Mario is to bring Cappy into his moveset. I don't think Mario’s entire moveset should be dominated by throwing his cap, but utilizing it for ranged attacks and recoveries would be a step in the right direction. One idea is to allow Mario to throw Cappy while in the air. He could then perform a dive onto Cappy for extra air time. It's very similar to how he controls in Super Mario Odyssey and would be a perfect fit.
Mario also needs a better final smash. Mario Finale looks cool, but has never really felt like a move Mario would use in his main line games. A possible alternative would be allowing Mario to step into his Odyssey shoes once more. Mario could throw his cap and take over the T-Rex featured in one of Odyssey’s first worlds. The T-Rex could function as something similar to Giga Bowser as it causes massive damage around the stage.
Link
We already know one very important thing about Link in Smash 5; he'll be sporting his new look from Breath of the Wild. With a new look, Link should receive some updates to his moveset. Link has always been about utilizing the various tools from the Legend of Zelda series to win fights, but many of the mainstay items from previous entries were MIA in Breath of the Wild. Link will still have his Master Sword and Shield. His bow is also a given. Boomerangs and Bombs still appeared in Breath of the Wild, but their uses were much smaller in the long run, potentially leading to their significance be smaller in Smash 5. The Claw/Hookshot is nowhere to be found in Breath of the Wild. While Link could still use it, I think the better choice would be to use the magnesis ability featured heavily in Breath of the Wild’s puzzles.
A heavy feature in Breath of the Wild were the abilities bestowed upon Link by the four guardians. Daruke’s protection could be used as Link’s new shield. Revali’s game could be used for aerial recovery. The thunderhelm may even be used as an in-game item. The best possible new addition would be using the four guardians in Link’s final smash. Perhaps they could send a massive beam of destruction onto the stage or they could power up Link. Like Mario, Link’s current final smash, the triforce slash, is cool, but doesn't exactly fit in with the main series games.
The best part about a revamped Adult Link would mean that Toon Link would be less of a clone and I'm all for having less clones in fighting games.
Luigi
Poor Luigi. In the smash games he's always received the short end of the stick. His moveset has always been incredibly similar to that of Mario’s and once Luigi started to become his own character, the smash games made him less of a coward. Instead he's just strange.
With Mario receiving new moves, Luigi should as well. I was really happy with Luigi’s new final smash in Smash 4. The poltergeist 5000 makes more sense with Luigi’s character and I think he should use it more in his standard attacks. Like with Mario, Luigi’s moveset wouldn't entirely revolve around the item. The poltergeist could be used to suck up items to either be shot back or saved for later. It could potentially be used for recovery using the long hose to grapple to platforms. And maybe… just maybe… we can get a better pose for Luigi’s in game trophy. The current option is just… well it's something else.
That wraps up the first entry in my smash diary. More entries will be on the way soon. In the next one I hope to cover a major character I want to see in Smash 5. Let me know what entries you would like to see as well.
Comments